Thursday, December 15, 2011

Haagen-Dazs Peppermint Bark Ice Cream

Oh Haagen-Dazs, my immense apologies. How is it that it's been a year since we've seen each other? The White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Review was just shy of a year ago, and ironically enough, the review below is based on a similar white chocolate ice cream base.

So I was trying to get my office cleaned up yesterday, and as a reward, I knew that lunch time meant ice cream time. Since DQ is closed, I headed over to Roche Bros to take a stroll down the ice cream aisle. I didn't expect to find anything different, but then I saw it.

Haagen-Dazs Limited Edition Peppermint Bark ice cream : Decadent white chocolate ice cream blended with crumbled peppermint bark and peppermint twist candy pieces. Sure, I had every intention of getting something lighter today, but it's less than two weeks until Christmas and I haven't had a single seasonal flavor up yet.

And here it is, interesting isn't it? With so many variations of mint & chocolate and chocolate & mint, it's nice to see that the base here is white chocolate. I can't help myself and decide to take a nice big whiff. Cool! I expected an overpowering mint smell, but instead I'm greeted by a pleasant and mild white chocolate smell. (note: on second whiff was much more minty)

I dig in and instantly begin kicking myself for waiting a year between servings of H-D. They make such a wonderful ice cream that is clean, rich, and creamy. Top notch. I take a few more bites and my mouth starts to get a bit tingly. There are a ton of chunks up top and my senses are overflowing with mint. Wow! Now that's some powerful stuff!

I change my aim and find a small patch of just white chocolate ice cream. Mmmmm, man this base is good. It's wonderfully creamy and the white chocolate flavor is spot on. I can't help but wonder why H-D doesn't sell the white chocolate all by itself. It's really good and would hit the spot when I'm in the mood for something peaceful.

Now that the base ice cream has built up a nice coating on my taste buds, I can settle back into my treat now.

I start back into the abundant chunks. Basically they are just crushed candy canes covered in chocolate. What surprises me is that they are crunchy, but not crazy crunchy.. actually, thud is more appropriate than crunch. There's no fear of breaking a tooth here. They are neat little chunks with the peppermint insides totally overpowering their chocolaty coating.

Another nice touch is the peppermint pieces scattered throughout the ice cream. They add these neat little red specs everywhere. Often they aren't more than the size of a crumb, but other times you start hitting a few of the larger pieces (like a 1mm thick candy cane cross section). However you find them, they do seem to add flavor so that's what matters.

All in all, an excellent seasonal ice cream. The base is excellent and the mixins are unique, but you better be real sure you like mint before digging in. For example, if you like shoving multiple York peppermint patties in your mouth at one time, you should definitely enjoy this one. As for me, I'll be enjoying this one slow and steady. It's just so flavorful and rich, there's no real reason to have more than one serving at a time.

On Second Scoop: Well, I was going to bring this one home to my wife since I'm almost positive she'd like it.... but, well, I just blew through my second serving and there's not a whole lot left now (I'll just pick her up her own container). All my second scoop early bites were just ice cream and candy cane bits and this led me to a thought. Peppermint Bark needs a limited edition brother named Candy Cane. It'll be the same thing, just without those neat chocolate covered bits. We all know how candy canes crunch, especially when it's thin, now just picture that in an ice cream. If that floats your boat, I suggest you go pick up a pint (or three). My only real complaint is that at some point during the treat it always overpowers me. I'm going to be tasting mint all afternoon (...and evening) ---- note: my wife did eventually have some, and she agrees, it's really well done.

@Anon: I don't think I've seen a York flavor per say, and I'm not sure why, but there are plenty of tasty mint flavors out there that will remind you of York PPs. (just search my blog for mint or York)

@Rodzilla: in this case, i am talking about the traditional "serving" size of a 1/2 cup (4 fl oz). If you want to get real technical, I had a serving on my first scoop, probably 1.5 on the second scoop, and there's only 1 serving left.

Not sure if Haagen-Dazs has carried this in previous years, but I recently saw Peppermint Bark in BAR form at my local groceries. But I don't see it listed on HG's website.I agree, there should be a plain white chocolate flavor because it is brilliant!!

I ran into a problem with my last batch of Peppermint Bark. It was extremely soft coming out of the grocery freezer. I thought it had sat too long waiting to be stocked. After 36 hours in my freezer, it refused to firm up, even though everything else in the freezer was frozen solid. The consistency was somewhere between whipped cream and pudding. I went back to the store to check their stock and the remaining cartons were the same. I emailed HD and haven't heard back. I've checked several stores now and can't find the Peppermint Bark anywhere. I don't know if it's end-of-season or if there was really something wrong with it. There aren't that many substances that won't freeze at 0 degrees F. Most of them you do not want to ingest.

While checking another store today, I found the Peppermint Bark on a stick. It's ok. I've never cared for ice cream on a stick. I don't like having my last mouthful taste like a wooden stick, and they're messy to eat. The PB on a stick was not nearly as potent and intoxicating as the original carton.

Has anyone else found this problem? I live in Illinois, north of Chicago.

that's a weird one. Maybe the grocer's freezer had been recently stocked (and therefore soft), but not sure why it wouldn't refreeze for you. Just wait for H-D to get back to you, I'd be surprised if they didn't investigate further.